Railway maintenance specialists, Vector Lifting, have received an order for a further four 35t lifting jacks from Downer EDi Rail, Victoria. The four extra jacks will join eight others already operated by the company in Victoria, to bring the total lifting capacity of the twelve jacks on site to 420t.

The major advantage of the jacks is an improvement in maintenance productivity through quicker access to components such as bogies and the general undercarriage.
Jacks can be relatively easily set up and operated so maintenance engineers can quickly access various sections of the train requiring attention.

Railways and other forms of public transport are becoming increasingly more patronised because of rising costs in energy and power generation, so reducing the time involved in conducting maintenance programmes, to keep more trains working more often, is now more important than ever.

Downer EDI Rail is one of the largest private sector providers of maintenance services to the rail industry and provides refurbishment solutions to extend and optimise the operating life of railway rolling stock. They manage the maintenance function in partnership with their clients at different sites in most states of Australia through extensive workshop support facilities.

Company spokesman for Vector Lifting, Martin Tognala, said it was particularly pleasing to be awarded a second order from the client for the same product. “It certainly shows confidence and satisfaction in our jacks and our organisation,” he commented. “EDi Rail are a globally-respected railways design and manufacturing company who demand the very best from all their suppliers. Our 35t jacks have proved reliable and effective in saving maintenance time and improving safety for maintenance engineers … so it’s quite an accolade for our team to pick up this second order from Victoria.”